War

I find this topic very hard for me. I have family members that have been part of the Armed Forces and I have supported them 100%. I myself was in ROTC and would have followed through with enlisting if I could have. I believe in the values that are learned in training - leadership, fellowship, determination etc... I guess the problem I have is how can people learn that war does not work. We kill people to show them that killing is wrong - what sense does that make????? I cannot even fathom how many innocent people have died - Americans and all the others - as the result of our need to force our values on someone else. This philosophy can be found on the city streets as easily as it can be found on the battlefields. We think that aggression will solve our problems and all it does is create more aggression. We need to learn how to talk about problems and solve them face to face. To many times we go around the issues and never really solve what the root problems are. If was could just talk to our "enemies" we may find that they are not as different as ourselves. They have their own beliefs and values. We may not agree with their values and beliefs but isn't diversity what this world is all about? We need to learn how to work with each other while respecting each other in the process. I love all veterans and support them 100% - what I do not support is war. Our veterans go to war for us but then how do we treat our veterans when they return. Many our homeless, have mental and physical disabilities, and cannot care for their families. If we treated our veterans as well as we treated our athletes this world would be a much better place. We have to start taking care of each other and not be so concerned about "I". My challenge for you today is to find a veteran and tell them how much you appreciate (d) their sacrifice. Is is little act that will go a long war to healing deep scars.